Chapter 8: Sit-ups

I stood at the door and took two deep breaths.

I reached out and opened it.

The lights were off.

The room was pitch black.

I could barely make out the bed and desk.

But no one was there.

Just as I reached for the light switch, my hand was grabbed.

“Sister Yuan?”

The person in the dark didn’t respond.

The next second, I was pulled into a soft, warm embrace.

Then I was pinned down onto the bed.

“Sister Yuan, what are you doing?”

A delicate, boneless hand roamed over my body.

Its cool touch sent shivers through me.

A voice floated through the darkness.

“Don’t talk.”

“Let me hold you for a bit.”

I gave a helpless smile.

I tried to move my arms.

But her grip was too tight.

I couldn’t budge them an inch.

“Didn’t I say not to move?”

“When did you get so disobedient?”

“Sister Yuan, you’re holding me too tight.”

“And, uh, could you at least change clothes?”

“This outfit’s not right?”

“Well… how do I put it…”

“It’s just… uh… you know…”

I stammered, unable to form a full sentence.

All she had over her underwear was that loose white T-shirt.

In this close contact, I realized just how incredible her figure was.

A slender, graceful waist without a hint of extra fat.

So slim it seemed I could wrap my hands around it.

A perfect S-shaped figure.

Full where it should be, curved just right where it counts.

A wasp waist and shapely hips, utterly captivating.

“Alright, wait a sec.”

She got up and left, probably to change in her room.

I let out a huge yawn.

Sleepiness hit me like a wave.

So tired.

Time to sleep.

Just as I was drifting off, I felt that familiar body pull me into her arms again.

“Is this outfit better?”

I rubbed my bleary eyes.

I saw Sister Yuan in new clothes.

“Isn’t that my shirt?”

“You’ve got plenty of clothes.”

“Why wear mine?”

“Because it smells like you.”

“I love it.”

“It’s nice.”

“This is… what, a boyfriend shirt?”

The white shirt I’d worn earlier was now on her.

The chest area was stretched tight.

I’m on the smaller side for a guy.

At 1.7 meters, my frame’s far from sturdy.

I could almost pass for a girl.

My shirt on 1.75-meter-tall Sister Yuan looked a bit small.

“It’s a bit tight at the chest.”

“Can I undo those buttons?”

“No way!”

“Sister Yuan, keep dressing like this, and I won’t sleep with you anymore.”

“Hm? Then I’ll just hold you by force.”

…Wearing my clothes and still hugging me to sleep?

You’re completely unreasonable, aren’t you?

Fine, whatever.

At least wear the shirt properly.

“Good night.”

“Sleep well.”

“Feel free to get handsy.”

“Once I’m asleep, I’m out cold.”

“I’m not doing anything.”

“Seriously, climbing into a guy’s bed so defenselessly?”

Her head suddenly moved close to my ear.

At this distance, her sultry voice was clear and real.

“Because it’s you, I don’t need to be on guard.”

“Though I kind of hope you’d do something.”

“Good night.”

I quickly stopped her from saying more.

“No physical contact with other girls in tomorrow’s PE class.”

“Are you seriously that sensitive, Sister Yuan?”

“You can manage that, right?”

“I… I’ll try…”

“You can manage, right?”

I fell silent.

Her possessiveness was clearly over the top.

It sparked my rebellious streak.

I felt my face being lifted.

I was forced to meet her beautiful, light purple eyes.

“No physical contact with other girls.”

“Or you’ll face the consequences.”

Her gaze was cold and sharp, not a hint of joking.

Her demand was excessive.

But I didn’t dare argue.

“Okay… okay.”

“I’ll be careful.”

“Good night.”

The sky was clear, the summer sun blazing down.

On the deep red rubber track, we lined up neatly.

We listened impatiently to the PE teacher’s lecture.

I was burning up.

Just standing in this heat made my skin sweat.

It clung to me, sticky and uncomfortable.

“Alright, that’s all.”

“Go run two laps.”

The tanned, healthy-looking PE teacher gave a despair-inducing order.

Running under this sun left us drenched in sweat, miserable.

“Stretch your legs.”

“Girls, eighty sit-ups.”

“Boys, pull-ups.”

We’d barely caught our breath when the teacher’s next command came.

Like me, other classmates grumbled about his intense teaching style.

Soft protests echoed around.

I wiped my sweat and said nothing.

I quietly followed the other boys to the pull-up bars.

Suddenly, someone tugged my shirt.

I turned around.

It was An Xue Ruo, panting, her face flushed.

“Can you help hold my legs?”

“There’s an odd number of girls, and no one’s free to help.”

“Uh… well…”

I didn’t really want to get involved with her.

Besides Sister Yuan’s warning and my lack of interest, there was another reason.

She drew a lot of attention from both guys and girls.

Getting too close to her would ruin my plan to stay under the radar.

Thanks to Sister Yuan, I was already getting enough hostile looks.

“Maybe wait for another girl to finish and help you.”

“Can you help me?”

“I want to get it done early.”

I don’t know why she asked me.

It was weird.

But her pitiful look was drawing eyes.

“Okay?”

The stares felt like they’d skewer me.

I couldn’t say no.

“Alright.”

An Xue Ruo lay back on the soft grass.

Her slender, shapely legs pressed tightly together.

Her summer uniform, striped with red, clung to her sweaty skin.

Her youthful figure was faintly visible.

The scent of a beautiful girl, mixed with sweat, hit my nose at this close range.

I held her legs and looked away.

“Why me?”

“Because you’re different.”

“I’m interested in you.”

“Different? How?”

She smiled, her upper body rising and falling rhythmically.

Her water-blue hair danced with each move.

“You’re not interested in me.”

“That’s normal.”

“I don’t expect every guy to be into me.”

“But you seem to really avoid getting close to me.”

“You guys offended me first, so I should be the one upset.”

“But after that, you started avoiding me.”

“Can you tell me why?”

“If I did something wrong, I can apologize.”

Telling her the reason was fine.

I just couldn’t mention Sister Yuan.

“No, you didn’t do anything wrong.”

“Sorry again for last time.”

“I did that because… unlike Zheng, I’m really not interested in you.”

“And you get too much attention.”

“I don’t want to get close to someone like that.”

“I just want to be an unnoticed nobody.”

As I answered, I glanced at her.

Then I quickly looked away again.

Holding the legs of a sweating, top-tier beauty doing sit-ups was intense.

Not as intense as last night with Sister Yuan, but still a lot for me.

“Alright, but I’m interested in you.”

“Can we be friends?”

“Huh? Why?”

“Because you’re… interesting?”

“In your eyes, I see a hidden sadness most people don’t have.”

Sadness?

What kind of weird nonsense is that?

“Are you having a chuunibyou moment?”

“Hurry up and finish.”

“I’ve still got pull-ups.”

“Do I qualify to be your friend?”

“Whatever you want.”

“How many have you done?”

“You didn’t count?”

“Fine, I’ll start over.”

So you were too busy chatting to keep track?!

The girl in front of me did another eighty sit-ups.

She collapsed, panting heavily.

Not bad athletic skills, doing that many in one go.

At that moment…

On the third floor of the school building, in a luxurious office…

An expensive-looking pair of binoculars was slammed to the ground.

A hand clenched into a fist.

It smashed hard against the window frame.

“You’re being naughty again, Xiao You.”

“Bad kids need punishment.”

“Pests need to be dealt with too.”